


Just take my hand, there's no time to waste on giving up

by Melusine11



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Forbidden Love, Jedi Rey, Mutual Pining, Senator Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-06-30 22:10:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15760698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melusine11/pseuds/Melusine11
Summary: Ben had once seen Rey cut down a pair of assassins nearly twice her size, but to behold her, in her Leia Organa approved Jedi attire, saberstaff safely and strategically hidden from sight, she tended to look more like his consort than his bodyguard. He was pretty sure her actual status was a heated debate topic in the senate when they weren’t around. Because to give the wiry Jedi Master an incorrect address was sure to net the speaker a reckoning from Senator Ben Organa-Solo himself, and an intergalactic scandal to go along with it.Or the one in which Jedi Rey knows exactly what she wants, Senator Ben is a self sabotaging idiot, and Uncle Luke needs to come and knock some sense into him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly done, so I hope it won't be too long between updates. I also didn't want it too be too long of a one shot (yes, I say this knowing full well I've got a 14k one in my works ;P). So I hope you enjoy, and stick around for the show!

“That went well, I think,” Rey jokes as the door separating them from the senate floor slides shut, silencing the angry yelling and debating they had walked out on.

“Rey,” Ben drawls, running a hand through his hair as he waits for her to give him the all clear to move, “just once, can you not?”

“Sure, sure, all I’m saying, though, is I’ve seen your father and Lando cause less of a riot when they deliberately swindle other Sabacc players. You would have had better luck declaring all out war on Naboo for no reason than proposing rebuild the Temple and re-establish the Jedi Academy here.” She tugs at the sleeve of his senator robes and steps out into the hall, winding them carefully through the Galactic Senate Complex. “Of course, me standing next to you looking terrifying probably didn’t help you case at all.” She turns her head to smile up at him, her grin growing when he actually laughs.

Ben had once seen Rey cut down a pair of assassins nearly twice her size, but to behold her, in her Leia Organa approved Jedi attire, saberstaff safely and strategically hidden from sight, she tended to look more like his consort than his bodyguard. He was pretty sure her actual status was a heated debate topic in the senate when they weren’t around. Because to give the wiry Jedi Master an incorrect address was sure to net the speaker a reckoning from Senator Ben Organa-Solo himself, and an intergalactic scandal to go along with it.

“It’s too soon,” Ben confesses with a sigh, managing to somehow slouch while keeping up a regal walk.

“Bantha shit,” Rey growls, “it’s been over thirty years. It’s time and you know it. Those imbeciles in there, sitting nice and pretty in their senate seats don’t understand. They never will, Ben. They don’t carry the burden we do.”

“I know,” he grunts, fists clenching at his sides as they step into an elevator to descend to his housing unit. The doors have just shut with a gentle ping when the holo on his wrist chirps. “Hi, mom,” he sighs when he answers and her face appears before them.

“Some enthusiasm would be nice, Ben.” She reprimands as her eyes swing over to Rey. “You look lovely dear, how are you holding up, I hope he’s not being too much of a bother.”

“No more than usual, Senator,” Rey smiles in that easy way of hers and leans in closer to Ben to better be in view of the holo, “how are you feeling?”

“More of the same,” Leia replies easily, “the med droids are declaring I’m on the mend, but I don’t believe it. The tea here is terrible.”

Ben smirks and Rey frowns, pushing up onto the balls of her feet, “are you sure you don’t want me to-”

Leia waves a hand, “it’s only the flu, Rey, there’s no need to expend your energy on me. Keep looking after my son until I’m back. You can feel free to fuss over me then.” 

Ben glances over to watch Rey squint at Leia - something he’s sure not many people have the gall to do. “I will hold you to that,” she insists, expression morphing into a pleased grin as she drops back and paces away from him in an effort to afford him the illusion of privacy.

“Luke stopped by, he found a few more resources that might be helpful to you,” Leia informs him before covering her mouth to cough, “he wants to drop them off. Tonight.” Ben groans but nods anyway, knowing how useless it was to argue with his mother, “They haven’t said no yet, Ben. Keep your eyes on the bigger picture.”

“Of course, mother.”

“And wear your blue robes tomorrow - Rey, wear the silver.”

“You got it, Senator!” Rey chirps from her corner before Ben ends the call as the elevator finally slows and stops with a ping, doors hissing open. Rey is in front of Ben before he can blink again. He _hates_ when she does that, and when she turns to smirk at him from over her shoulder, he knows she heard his disgruntled thought on the matter.

When he first met Rey, she had been a new padawan at his Uncle Luke’s academy, all coltish legs and toothy grin, while he was just coming into adulthood and finally growing into his looks. His attitude was normally a sufficient padawan repellent - as well as his studies, as he was never trying to use the force,merely contain and control what was within him. Not Rey though, no, Rey had ambled over to him during dinner, sat right across from him and launched into an excited rambling rant about her training for the day before shovelling her food into her mouth as fast as she could. Ben had merely sat there, slack jawed as he watched. His mother would be horrified, his father would be delighted by her. Despite making every attempt to ignore the girl, she just kept coming back for more, and he didn’t understand why. He accused Luke of putting her up to it, but Luke had only laughed, told him that trying to contain Rey was like trying to hold on to a fist filled with sand.

Ben believes Luke’s words still held true, as he watches her stalk through the halls, alert for anything out of the ordinary as he trails in her wake to his unit. The trip is made without incident, as it almost always is, and when the doors slide open, Rey is quick to dart inside, unbuttoning the high collar of her robe with a sigh of relief that makes Ben laugh.

“When do you expect Luke will be by?” she asks, turning away from him with a huff, retreating to her room.

“Who knows,” Ben replies, removing the gaudy cuffs at his wrists as he moves to his own room. “I’m not waiting for him to eat.”

“Oh thank Force,” she says, appearing in his doorway, stripped down to a loose tunic shirt and leggings, toes free and wriggling into the carpet. “Can we order up some of those chili dumplings we had last week? I can’t stop thinking about them.”

“Whatever you want, Rey.” Ben acquiesces, pulling all the jewelry from his person to place in the box on his dresser. “Are you just going to stand there-?” he asks, when he turns, hands working the clasps of his own robes, to see her still standing there.

“Is there somewhere else you’d like me to be?” she smirks at him, allowing her body to relax against the doorjamb, expression growing as she watches his fingers fumble with the catch.

“Rey,” he can feel her longing and want from across the room, was practically drowning in it, as he chokes out her name, desperately trying to box his own up. He watches her expression turn sour and senses the shame and disappointment before she quickly shuts herself off from him as best she can.

“I’ll go order,” she informs him stiffly, drawing herself up to her full height and retreating from his doorway, flicking her wrist to slam it shut with the force.

He deserves that, he knows he does, they have been dancing around each other for years, and it is becoming more and more difficult to ignore. He has read and memorized the Jedi Code. It was the first thing Luke had him do - even if he wasn’t going to be a Jedi, Luke had insisted he know the beliefs the others would be upholding. He isn’t worth that compromise. He doesn’t want to be the reason Rey would fall.


	2. Chapter 2

He stares at himself in the mirror, he looks like a man already ruined, as he strips out of his senate robes and stalks into his ‘fresher. He turns on the water, then paces the length of the space, waiting until the room is uncomfortably muggy and full of steam before stepping under the spray. He wants, oh how he wants. He wants Rey in a way he hasn’t wanted anything in a long time. He wants her to be his, wants the entire kriffing senate to know that she is his and he is hers. He wants to know what she tastes like, what she feels like, wants to know the sounds he could draw from her mouth as he makes love to her. With a roar, drowned out by the jets of water around him, he lashes out, fist connecting with the wall. He wants what he cannot have. He will hold her at arms’ length to keep her safe, will break his heart one thousand times over by telling her no, if only to keep her here, with him, protecting him, uncompromised. 

He leans against the side wall and lets the water cascade over him as he tries to recenter himself. He feels thrown off balance, and all she did was flirt a bit. She’s been getting more brazen, and he truly doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to keep putting her off, but Force, is he going to try. He’s seen the fall out that happens when a Jedi tumbles head first into things that they shouldn’t. His grandfather was brought back from the breach, but it was a close thing. Still the galaxy suffered from his missteps, and the machinations of Sheev Palpatine. His ego wasn’t enough to think that giving into this _thing_ that existed between him and Rey could cause a dramatic fall out, but still he worried. She had chosen to become a Jedi who was he to try to steal her away.

With a shaking hand he reaches for the soap, it’s useless to wonder how everything got so mixed up. He knows it well, can recall the memory without even trying. Years ago now, but still managing to feel like yesterday.

* * *

Nearly ten years passed, by the time he saw Rey again, he was a full-fledged senator, and she recently completed her trials. She had also, he noticed, somewhere along the way, grown into herself, exuding a confidence he only played at having. She was still small, but most people were compared to him, but she had shed her gangly limbs, for toned muscle and subtle curves. When she had met his gaze and smiled at him, he didn’t think he had ever blushed harder in his life.

“Ben!” she cried, loping over to him like they were old friends. “Luke said you’d be stopping by, he’s up at the temple, meditating, but I can show you to your rooms. We’ve done some remodeling since you’ve been here last.”

“Yeah, uh, that would be great.” He agreed, clearing his throat. “It looks, a lot different,” he said, taking everything in as they walked.

“Yeah, there was a surge of new padawans in the last year and we had to build new units for them. Luke keeps grumbling about how this never would have happened if they still had access to the Temple on Corosount, but that’s boring Jedi stuff, how’s Senate life treating you?”

“It’s good. Pretty boring, too though.” He found himself smiling when she hummed in agreement. “I spend most of my time doing the boring paperwork for Mom’s proposals.” He watched her nod as though she knew exactly what he meant, and decided he dealt with that boring shit day after day, and finding out more about her was a better avenue of conversation, “You passed your trials?”

“Oh! Yes, just last year, I’ve been out on diplomatic missions on Luke’s behalf since then, but he says he might have something better for me soon.” She coughed lightly, “I’m surprisingly not great at diplomacy.” she laughed at this like it was some great joke as she pushed through the tall double doors of the main academy building.

“Most everything in here should be the way you remember, but we’ve converted a few old classrooms into guest rooms. Lucky you.” She glanced up at him with a toothy grin and Ben felt his heart drop somewhere into the vicinity of his stomach. 

“Lucky me,” he repeated, smirking back at her as they turned down a dimly lit corridor.

“Sorry, don’t get a ton of foot traffic this way, and since Luke likes to act like we’re a bunch of barbarians with these damn torches, no one ever lights them. I came through not long before you got here. Don’t worry though, I promise your room is marginally better.”

She was blunt, there was no denying that. “I’m starting to see why Uncle Luke doesn’t think you’re fit for diplomacy.”

“Oh, what gave it away? It was the barbarians thing, wasn’t it?” she asked with a tinkling laugh that made him smile. “Here we are!” she declared, rapping quickly at the door before pushing it open. “See, you have a lantern.” she mock whispered as he passed her by, entering the room. “I’ll just leave you to it then, and when I see Luke I’ll let him know you’re here, even though we both know he already knows.” She winked up at him and then disappeared back down the hall, leaving Ben staring in shock at an empty doorway before he turned to get himself settled. Of all the things he anticipated when he showed up here, a grown up Rey somehow never made the list.

Luke found him some time later, reading one of the books left in his room. “Trip was alright?” He asked when he stepped into Ben’s room.

“The trip was the same as it always is. Boring.”

“Great. It’s good to see you Ben,” Luke sighed and sank down on the bed next to Ben, “You’ve been gone for too long, and you haven’t been meditating.”

“The schedule of a Junior Senator hardly leaves time for Jedi Meditation.”

“What about your mother?”

“I don’t think she meditates, sorry, Uncle Luke.” Ben leaned back against the wall, leaving the book open in his lap.

“What am I going to do with the two of you?”

“Visit more often, is what mom would want me to tell you.” Ben told him with a smile.

“Easier said than done.” Luke countered.

“Just move the school. It sucks out here Luke.”

“It’s peaceful, Ben, and frankly, a lot of these young kids need that. You needed it, you still need it.”

“I’m fine.” Ben rolled his eyes, turning to look out of the window.

“Meditation, twice a day. Try for a short one after dinner tonight, but tomorrow, daybreak. I’ll have Rey help you.”

“I know how to meditate,” Ben huffed, affronted.

“Ben, I’ve seen you meditate. You just sit there and I know you think about bill proposals. Rey’s not great at it either, it will be good for the two of you.”

“Why would you even try to stick me with her as a teacher if she’s terrible at it?”

“Her mind is restless like yours, Ben. Just for a few days, then you can have at it on your own. No arguments.”

“Fine, but I would like to voice my displeasure.”

“Consider it noted, now come on. Dinner awaits.”

And that was how, the next morning Ben found himself rolling from his mat on the ground, to the floor, before stumbling up to answer the insistent knocking at his door.

“Up and at’em Mr. Junior Senator!” Rey chirped as Ben pushed his sleep tousled hair out of his face.

“It’s just Junior Senator,” he grumbled, thumb tracing the corner of his mouth, finding himself relieved to be free of drool. “Let me get dressed?”

“Yeah, just hurry, you don’t want to miss it.” Rey replied, pulling to door closed to afford him privacy.

“Miss what?” he asked, shuffling to his chest and withdrawing his training robes.

“It’s a surprise, now come on!” Ben growled, but quickly changed before joining Rey in the hall. “Got you breakfast!” She tossed a nutrition bar at him and then took off at a quick clip down the hall, further from the way he had entered.

“Where are we going?” he asked, ripping open the packet and taking a bite of the dense, bland tasting bar.

“I said it’s a surprise. Do you enjoy trying to spoil peoples fun?” He could hear the scowl in her voice, regretted that he couldn’t see it in the dark hall.

“I do. I find that I am quite successful at it on any given day.”

“How long are you staying again?” Rey asked from ahead of him.

“A month, I believe.”

“Force,” she hissed, coming to an abrupt stop, Ben barely managed to avoid walking right into her, “sorry,” she said sheepishly, “It’s hidden, but-” he heard scraping before a portion of the wall swung wide, opening to the vast yard that lay beyond, pitch black in the pre-dawn hours. “Come on, we’re gonna miss it.”

“How the kriff can you see anything?” Ben asked, stumbling outside behind her, scowling at the vague approximation of her head - or where the sound was coming from at any rate.

“You have to let the Force guide you, Ben. Can’t you feel it? It surrounds us, is part of us, if you focus, it will guide you through the dark, but here, take my hand, we have a bit of a climb.” Rey’s voice was louder, and Ben squinted, barely managing to make her out now in the dark.

“I can walk on my own, thank you.”

“Ugh, you Inner Rim dwellers, always so uppity, just let me help you, Ben.” with a heavy sigh he reached out blindly, groping for her hand and she laughed when she leaned forward and gripped it. He _felt_ her intake of breath when their skin met, and suddenly he could see her, a beacon of light in the dark. Rey’s eyes were wide, in shock, in horror, he couldn’t be sure, but he felt like he couldn’t breathe, and like he might vibrate out of his skin at any moment. When Rey yanked her hand away he wavered for a moment before sinking to his knees on the ground. He didn’t know what that was, but he knew something shifted in him.

“What did you just do?” Rey asked, voice pitching an octave too high and he could sense her panic.

“I didn’t do anything,” he wheezed, tipping his head back to look up at her, “you’re the Jedi here.”

“I know that, Ben, but of the two of us, you’re the one with raw, untapped potential. You could have done something without even realizing it!” She sounded even more distressed now, and deep in his chest he felt a thrum of anger.

“I promise I didn’t do anything intentionally, and I’m sure it was nothing.”

“Oh, good, Junior Senator Ben Organa-Solo, who knows nothing of the Force, is sure whatever weird thing that just happened, was nothing. Thank you, for your assurances in this trying time,” she spat the words out and Ben felt the anger in him swell.

“I need you to calm down, Rey. Getting upset isn’t going-”

“Upset? Who’s upset? Not me! You take whatever you did back Ben!” The anger was gone now, pure panic in its place, “ _What are you doing?_ ” she was down in his face now, _gripping_ his face. “I can feel - you think this is funny?” she asked, head canting as she glowered at him.

“No, curious.” He answers, “What did you see?”

“I saw a great many things, but in the end? You. What about you?”

His first instinct was to lie, it was on the tip of his tongue, “Just you,” the truth came out instead.

They gaze at each other for a moment longer, Rey still holding his face captive before she stands, “let’s go,” she waits for him to stand and then takes his hand again. For a flicker of a moment Kylo fears it will happen again, but it doesn’t, and he knows the relief he feels, sudden and warm isn’t only his.

She leads him up, and up, and up, twisting around the path before they come to a rocky ledge. Rey plops down and Ben hesitantly follows suit. “Sit and be quiet.” Her voice is stern and he glances sideways at her, “I mean it, just watch.”

So he sits, and he’s quiet, and together they watch the sun rise up over the horizon, sky fading from inky black into lighter and lighter shades of blue. Once the sun is in the sky, just lingering above the ground Rey turns to face him. “This is my favorite time of day, and it’s different on every planet,” she shifts, now sitting cross legged, “come on, meditation time.”

“Shouldn’t we-” he starts, 

“No. We can worry about everything after. Once we go back, we can ask Luke, and I’m sure whatever that was, whatever this is, can be sorted out by nightfall.” She sounds so sure of it, looks so sure of it, but when he turns to mimic her stance, he can feel the doubt coil low in his stomach. “Stop doing that,” she hisses.

“Doing what?” he asks, resting his hands over his knees.

“You’re intrigued by whatever happened, and I don’t like it.”

“You aren’t the least bit curious?”

“Not when I’m trying to meditate, I’m not!” Rey grumbled as she closed her eyes, “now, please, so we can at least tell Master Luke we tried. He’s the worst to lie to.”

“You forget I’m a politician.” Ben shifted on the hard ground and watched Rey’s snap open.

“So you admit you’re a liar?”

“Well, I mean, there’s a certain finesse to it,” Ben stumbled over the words because he could feel her annoyance with him, sharp and hot, like a knife in his chest.

“Shut your eyes, Ben, and get this done.”

It was a disaster, he wasn’t able to focus, but he had tried. Rey called it quits first, slowly leaning back until she was laying flat on the rock.

“I can’t, it’s like having someone else in my head. Let’s go, the sooner we can get this figured out, the better.”

Only they didn’t figure it out, not to the end they each hoped for. Luke, to his credit had sat through the explanation with a straight face, before he started laughing. A Force Bond. He told them after settling down and pulling a book from a nearby shelf. They were stuck together, and didn’t that just work out, because Luke was intending to send Rey to be the new Jedi guard for the Organa-Solo Senators.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Force Bond? In my Jedi/Senator AU? It's more likely than you think! Anyway - thank you all for your lovely feedback on this new adventure I'm wading into. Feel free to come say 'hi' on [tumblr](https://hellomelusine.tumblr.com). Next chapter hopefully coming tomorrow!


	3. Chapter 3

It felt like a lifetime ago, Ben muses as he steps from the ‘fresher, it was, in a way. His life could be split cleanly into the category of ‘before Rey’ and ‘with Rey’. It had been a tumultuous start, with Rey overcompensating because of the two of them she was at least trained in the ways of the Force, but it allowed her to dip easily undetected into his mind. Which wasn’t always a problem back then. The most scandalous thing she had stumbled upon then were detailed daydreams of dismembering other Senate members, but then things changed, and he suddenly feared she would find him imaging more salacious things.

The bond proved to be useful, a constant source of entertainment when Rey was feeling up to giving a mental running commentary on Senate proceedings. It had saved his life more than once, and it gave him unfettered access to Rey’s varying emotions when she was feeling generous. Plus access to her seemingly limitless Force capabilities. He liked to think he had picked up a thing or two from the bond, but every time he convinced Rey to spar with him he was quick to realize that no, he hadn’t. Mental manipulation he was getting better at, but he tried not to do it when his mother was around, because he hated being on the receiving end of one of her disapproving looks. 

He’s just put on a loose shirt when the chime in his room alerts him that someone is at the door. He opens the comm screen, just because he can, and it’s just a delivery droid, two delivery droids. With a sigh he shuts it off and pads into the living room, watching Rey direct them to the dining table where they lay out a veritable feast.

“We can’t eat all of that,” Ben points out after the droids roll back out of the apartment.

“Master Luke will be here soon, I’m sure he’s hungry. Besides, we can’t both be assholes, Ben.” Rey chides, striding into the kitchen, returning with plates, bowls and utensils. Ben’s sure he deserved that jab too. “They had fire stew today, ordered that for you.” Ben watched her move stiffly around the table, picking up the container and depositing it at his usual seat before flipping open a container of chili dumplings and loading up her plate. Tentatively he reaches out through the Force, gently brushing against her consciousness and her shields; she still feels him, and whips around to glare at him. “Stop it.”

“Rey-”

“No. Nope, we are not doing this right now,” she informs him, popping a dumpling into her mouth.

“We really should, though.” Ben retorts her, sinking into his chair.

“Not now.” words muffled by food, and Ben takes a fortifying breath, she knows he hates it when she does that. Glancing up at her, he knows it was intentional by the gleam in her eye. He says nothing further about it, and begins to eat. Only pausing when there’s a knock at the door, smiling at Rey as she bolts up to answer it.

“Master Luke!” Rey smiles at Luke as he enters, a stack of tomes bound together with a leather strap in his arms.

“Master Rey,” Luke drawls, smirking down at his once-upon-a-time padawan as she rolls her eyes and hefts the books from his arms. “Ben,” Luke greets his nephew from across the room as the door swooshes shut behind him.

“Uncle Luke, please, come sit, Rey ordered us too much food, as usual.” Ben gestures at the table with a small smile as Luke strides forward to take a seat.

“We had a guest coming,” Rey huffs, “I’m going to go toss these in the study.”

“There will be no tossing of those books, Rey. They’re delicate and require care.”

“Just like Ben, then!” Rey declares, striding off with a laugh.

“I was hoping life within the senate would have calmed her down a bit,” Luke sighs, piling his plate with food.

“She’s settled a bit, but she’s always going to be Rey,” Ben frowns down at his nearly empty bowl. “I’m afraid whatever is going on right now might be my fault.”

Luke only hums in acknowledgement, sitting up to be able to peer down the hall where Rey disappeared. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Ah, no, it will pass, it always does. Once Mom is back, I’m sure-”

“Sure the two of you will suddenly stop flirting?” Luke interrupts, arching a brow, smiling at his nephew when he reeled back from the table in shock.

“I’m not - that is to say, we’re most certainly not - and besides, we can’t.”

“The two of you share a bond, Ben, I don’t know what you’re doing, or what kind of mental gymnastics you’re putting yourself though.”

“The Jedi have a code,” Ben hisses, “Bond or not. It exists, it’s there and I will not be the one to hurt Rey.”

“Well,” Luke pops a stalk of garlic buttered asparagus into his mouth and Ben watches, tense as he chews before speaking again, “the code is more like guidelines anymore,” Luke smiles here, “I’d have no successful padawans if I were strict with the code. You’ve met Rey, Ben, you’re bonded with her. Please tell me what part of the code you think she upholds? She’s a pillar of goodness and justness in this cruel world, sure, but please let me know when you have ever seen her exist without passion or emotion. That girl is a whirling dervish of life, Ben.” Luke levels a stern gaze at Ben, “don’t be a fool, nephew.” 

Ben sits, gobsmacked, staring at his Uncle. His Uncle who had resurrected the Jedi from death, his Uncle who had taken his Jedi oaths seriously as he passed on his teachings to others, his Uncle who was now encouraging something between himself and Rey. What sort of alternate reality had he stepped into today.

“Those books look like they’ll be really helpful, Master Luke,” Rey’s voice comes from the hall before she steps into view and pulls up short, sensing the tension, “What happened?” she asks, looking between them with a frown.

“Nothing,” Luke responds, winking at Ben with the eye that Rey can’t see, “just discussing tensions from today's proposal.”

Rey groans, taking up her seat again, “they’re all so noisy, and that’s just the words they filter, their internal voices,” her lip curls as she jabs at her food, “speaking of tensions though, the assistant representative from Tattooine was reliving a very tense filled evening spent at a pleasure house,” she snorts into her plate before dissolving into giggles, while across from her Ben grows tense and Luke pinches the bridge of his nose. “I should be kept on retainer for secret keeping.”

“You shouldn’t be poking through peoples thoughts, Rey,” Luke chastises.

“Well, maybe they shouldn’t be so loud about it. I don’t go looking, but I can’t just shut myself off from that either, that’s how assassinations happen,” Rey bristles, barely glancing at Kylo before looking at Luke, “That’s why I’m here isn’t it? Because my strengths lean towards things in the mental capacity. It obviously has some pitfalls, but I can’t really do anything about it unless we send out a memo to the entire senate, which I imagine would go over about as well as Ben’s proposal today. ‘Dear esteemed members of the galactic senate, please refrain from all lewd thoughts while in session, it distracts from assassination plots, Signed Jedi Master Rey.’”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Luke frowns, but smiled despite himself. Ben rolls his eyes. _Jedi_.

“You’re just being uppity because of where they’re from.” Rey accuses finishing up the last of her food. “To be fair, it was unusually loud, so I think he’s perfected the art of sleeping with his eyes open, and it was a dream.”

“Can we please be done talking about this?” Ben asks, anger flaring for just a moment, but a moment was all it took. A hairline crack appears in the bowl and he can feel Rey’s sharp intake of breath as if it’s in his own chest. He thinks he is in the clear, but a moment later the bowl falls apart, cracking right down the middle.

“A fairly minor outburst,” Luke observes, and Ben glares up at him, “Sorry, it is progress though. I believe there was a time not too long ago where everything in this room would have shattered with one of your Force outbursts.”

“He’s been meditating,” Rey points out, trying for helpful, but it just angers Ben more.

“Thank you for the books, Uncle. I’ll return them to you as soon as I’m done compiling the notes I need.” He stands from the table, fists clenching and unclenching, “I need to go, it was nice seeing you, and you are, as always free to stay in the guest room.” He doesn’t even wait for Luke to say goodbye or indicate if he’s staying the night before he strode off. He holes himself up in the training room, just to avoid the possibility of breaking anything else, and so he can burn off whatever pent up energy raged inside of him. He paces until he feels he needs to do something more and picks up a training saber, glaring at the hilt of it before turning it on. He stands, poised for a battle he isn’t ready to fight and loose before turning it back off and throwing it as hard as he can across the room.

“That’s not the standard practice with those, but you might be onto something.” He turns quickly, to find Rey leaning easily in the doorway again. “Luke told me to remind you to not be a fool before he retired for the evening,” his brow furrows when she gives a quiet laugh, “sometimes I wonder if he’s ever even met you.”

“Rey-”

“I’m just teasing you, Ben.” Rey rolls her eyes, “You’re probably one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, but you can be a right fool at times.” She steps fully into the room, the door shutting silently behind her, “Should we talk about it now?” she asks, striding over and picking up the practice saber. Ben watched her twirl it in her nimble fingers and swallows thickly.

“I would rather wait until Luke wasn’t here,” he says after a moment, feeling jittery with nerves. It would be so, so easy to open their connection right now, and hash things out in the blink of an eye, but he needs to do this right, and his Uncle sleeping three rooms away, practically begging him to get everything on the table right now was more than enough incentive for his stubbornness to not give the man the satisfaction of being right.

“Perhaps tomorrow, then?” her gaze hopeful now, where earlier in the evening she had been hostile and hurt, like a loth cat backed into a corner.

“Rey,” Ben begins, rolling his jaw, “I am sorry.” He confesses, finally, “I know I hurt you, and you’re angry with me-”

“It’s okay, Ben. We can discuss this later, tomorrow. Tomorrow will be better.” She gives him a weak smile, before stepping from the room, leaving the saber hilt on the table he had retrieved it from as she left.

Later, as he lay awake in bed, Ben can’t help but feel as though he had missed several steps along the way and had fallen face first into trouble. Rolling to his side with a grunt, he shuts his eyes and reaches out with the force. Luke, the next room over, sleeping soundly, dreamlessly, and Rey, across the hall, also asleep, but troubled. He grunts as he realizes she is still capability blocking him, even while slumbering, but withdrawals enough so he can still feel her presence and falls into his own fitful sleep.

He steps into the kitchen in the morning, blue Senate robes donned, per his mother’s request, and pulls up short at the sight of Rey in her silver robes. They must be new, he reasons, taking in the iridescent shimmer to them, long sleeves and a high collar, her saberstaff prominently on display in this gown, running diagonally across her back, the lower end barely covered by the one shoulder cape the gown had.

“Caf?” She turns to him, a large mug in hand.

“Please,” he chokes out, taking the offered drink from her and watching as she turns back to pick up a second one. “Where’s Luke?” he asks, peering around the space and not finding his Uncle.

“Still asleep I would imagine, it’s not often he has time off. I’d take advantage if I were him.”

Ben hums as he sips at the warm drink, “New robes?” he asks, when he catches her staring pensively at him.

Her lips curve into a pleased smile. “Do you like them?”

“You look,” _ravishing, magnificent, like an ethereal being come to bless us mere mortals_ , “really nice,” he settles on the words, but frowns behind his mug as he speaks, knowing they’re the wrong ones. His eyes alight on a delicate black chain holding a gem the exact shade of his robes, it curled around the covered column of her throat, dropping down to settle perfectly in the small tear dropped shape cut out in the dress at the top of her chest. He chugs the last of the caf in an effort to keep his mouth occupied from attempting to voice sonnets over Rey’s beauty.

“Thank you,” Rey finally whispers, brushing an errant curl away from her eyes. “So, Kaydel sent your agenda for today. Sessions don’t start until after midday, and you have a meeting with the Chiss representatives,” she informs him, pulling up his schedule, so it hovers between them, casting the dim kitchen in a blue-green glow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I had a really long scene in here that I've moved to the next chapter, so there was some fallout tweaking, but I hope you enjoyed. I'm really just making Senate stuffs up, so, please don't get too mad if everything is incorrect. XD  
> I also apologize if I've missed any weird tenses. My main WIP is in past, and this is not, so sometimes (all the time) it's a struggle. I think they've all been caught though.


End file.
